Lasagna

I promised my sister I would post my new favorite recipe for lasagna. Enjoy!!

LASAGNA

Ingredients:


1 pound ground beef or ground turkey (or cooked chicken, Italian sausage, seafood, andouille, etc.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
26 to 28 ounces (about 3 cups) pasta sauce
Salt and pepper
1 cup chicken stock
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons white wine (optional)
12 ounces (3 cups) freshly grated mozzarella
6 to 8 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 cups cooked, well-drained broccoli, spinach, peas, or other vegetables (optional)
1 cup (about 4 ounces) freshly grated parmesan

Heat oven to 400. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan. Thoroughly cook the ground beef, garlic, and herbs in a large skillet, stirring frequently and breaking up the meat. Stir in pasta sauce and bring to a simmer for about 2 minutes. Season to taste and add the red wine, if using. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring chicken stock to a boil. Add cream cheese, turn heat to low, and whisk until smooth, about 6 minutes. Season to taste and add the white wine, if using.

Spoon half the meat sauce into the pan as evenly as possible. Sprinkle 1 cup grated mozzarella over the meat mixture. Top with 3 or 4 lasagna noodles. If using vegetables, toss them evenly over the noodles.

Pour the cream-cheese sauce over the noodles and cover with another cup of grated mozzarella. Arrange 3 or 4 lasagna noodles over the cheese, then spoon remaining meat mixture over noodles as evenly as possible. Top with the rest of the mozzarella and the grated parmesan. Bake until brown and bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes. (You'll need the longer cooking time if you have made and chilled the lasagna in advance.) Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes or it will be too gloppy to cut well. That would drive you crazy this late in the game.

4-2-4

All three children went to the pediatrician yesterday for their well checks: 4 years, 2 years, 4 months.

Andelynn talked non-stop. I think the P.A. was probably glad for the silence when our appointment was over! She also kept asking for her shots because, "I can go to school after I get shots." Yes, that's right! I convinced Andelynn to be excited for shots by telling her they were required for preschool. She really wants to start preschool, so she willingly got the shots. She wasn't happy about it, but she didn't fight it, either. She is finally gaining some weight and actually made it clear to 34lbs!

Carys impressed the P.A. by 1-being basically potty-trained, and 2- stripping down to absolutely nothing during the appointment. No shirt, no pants, no panties, and no socks. She was 100% au naturale! She is weighing in at 27lbs.

Clayton was just a drooling cutie patootie. He spent the appointment blowing spit bubbles and grinning. He is growing strong and seems to have absolutely no need for a regressed age. Yay!! He weighed in at an even 16lbs.

 Clayton's new hair

She adores him!

Andelynn posing and Carys and Clayton watching T.V.

Lovin' the thumb

Pretty Girl

"Cheese!"

My Money Maker

Alert the presses! I have the next Taylor Swift living in my home!!

Andelynn loves to sing. She sings about EVERYTHING. She also loves Taylor Swift and models many of her songs after popular Taylor songs. This morning she was singing for me. I thought the song was so inspired, I decided to share it with all of you.

Stupid Old Man, Marry Me

True Love's Kiss, you never come true.

If you love me, I will marry you, stupid old man.

True love’s kiss you never come true,

stupid old man, I will marry you.

If you will marry me, stupid old man,

I will give you a wedding ring!



A LOT of catching up to do

This will be a post full of random information. A lot has happened since I last updated, so I am going to do my best to update ALL of it here!

April 17: Andelynn turned 4! She was very excited for her birthday- especially because it was Sunday and the primary sang to her. She wore her new dress, which she picked out on ebay. It's a little big, or she's a little small, but it worked!

Andelynn's Birthday Dress

  April 19: Carys had tubes put in her ears and her adnoids removed. We have dealt with constant ear and sinus infections since she turned 10 months and she has been sick non-stop since January.It was time to do something about it. My little girl was a trooper! She didn't cry, at all, and woke up feeling GREAT. She immediatly insisted on getting dressed and having breakfast. She hasn't stopped since! We have now gone over two weeks without a single fever- a miracle has occurred!

April 24: Easter! We decided, at the suggestion of Nicole, to have Easter dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Christina, Devin, and children were able to come and we had a great time. It was an interesting day with Grandma, but she enjoyed the company and that's all that matters. I also learned that Carys loves hardboiled eggs, but only if they're dyed. She was constantly stealing them out of the fridge and trying to eat them!!

Beautiful Kyra



Easter Egg Hunt



Carys gorging on left-over cabbage salad. She LOVED it!

April 29: Andelynn had her first dance recital. She was in tap and ballet, and had a wonderful time. Her teacher, Marie Cummins, is wonderful with all of her students! The recital went off without a hitch. Andelynn was nervous at first, but soon got over it- thank goodness! She HATED the noise of the locker room, so I took her out to watch the other dances. As soon as it started, she calmed down and wanted to perform. She was actually upset that she only got to perform three times: tap, intermission (hokey pokey), and ballet. 

Tap- posing before going on stage

Ballet- intently watching her teacher.

 April 30: We decided to have a joint birthday party for Andelynn and Carys. Their birthdays are only 4 weeks apart, so it makes sense to combine them in the middle. Both girls had a GREAT time and were exhausted by the end of the day. Aunt Nicole was here all week, so I had the time to get creative (with Nicole's help, of course). I actually successfully made both birthday cakes.

Andelynn's was a cherry chip mix with a homemade butter cream frosting (with chopped cherries) between the layers. I then topped it with fondant (thanks Christina for the recipe!) and decorated it as Princess and the Frog.

Princess and the Frog

 Carys's was a chocolate cake mix with chocolate pudding and chopped strawberries between the layers. It was covered in chocolate butter cream and topped with fondant. It was decorated with her favorite movie: Toy Story. She was beyond tickled with Buzz and Woody on her cake!

Toy Story



 Although Josh decided, at the last minute, to clean his entire shed in the backyard, we had a wonderful day. Grandma and Grandpa, Christina, Cortlynn, Tristan, Kyra, Sarabeth, Morgan, Hunter, and Samantha all attended. The kids had a great time playing with the dog and riding bikes outside. It was almost a nice day- I think the sun did shine for part of it!

Josh got in the way :(

To end the post, a picture of my beautiful little boy chillin' in his bouncy chair. I couldn't end a post without at least mentioning him! He's growing every day, and is somewhere around 15-16 pounds now. I'll update for sure after his 4 month appointment (May 16th). He is now eating rice/barley cereal and LOVING it! He had his first haircut the other night. Josh was threatening to buzz it, and it was long enough for pigtails, so I gave in and trimmed it. He now looks a lot older and a lot more like my brother! I will post a pic soon!